"Multiple Case Study of (Re)-Design and Restructuring of Studio Arts Schools and Departments in the Research University Environment" investigates the effect of a changing academic value system, as it is manifest through activities of studio arts program redesign and restructuring within the specific context of large, public research universities in the United States of America. A multiple case study (of three distinct American studio arts units) of the academic restructuring phenomenon within this specific locus, examining the interplay of studio arts culture with the larger institutional mandates in the restructuring process, this work approaches restructuring as a series of cultural and survivalist responses to a complex and changing environment.

This study, based on a sustained, qualitative investigation into the instructional decision-making of three Grade Nine Natural Science teachers, addresses the dichotomy between policy and practice in the post-apartheid South African context. The main research questions that guided this study were: 1. How do secondary school teachers understand the critical differences between the traditional curriculum, the new outcomes-based curriculum and the revised version of this new curriculum? 2. Why and how do these teachers make strategic curriculum decisions at the interface of the three curricula in their classrooms? A comparative case study approach was taken, during which evidence of what the science teachers were doing in their classes was collected through prolonged, non-participant classroom observation of close to 30 lessons each. Insight into the rationale behind their practices, i.e. their pre-active and interactive decision-making, was gleaned from intensive pre-lesson and post-lesson interviews. The video-recording lessons were played back to them for stimulated recall of their interactive thinking and decision-making. Together with biographical interviews, teacher diaries, and the researcher’s field-notes, these instruments helped get a sense of the mechanics and dynamics of how these two science teachers make planning, teaching and assessment decisions in the fluidity of the present curriculum habitat in South Africa. The main finding from this study is that teachers do not make extensive use of their considerable decision-making space; I characterize this phenomenon as passivity in decision-making. It was found, further, that a number of decision-making frame factors have a bearing on teachers’ tendency to abdicate their decision-making authority; However, an unexpected finding was the extent to which the commercially prepared ‘outcomes-based’ learning support material shapes what happens in science classrooms. In theorizing teachers’ passivity-in-decision-making during complex curriculum change, I draw on and extend the scholarship on the intensification of teachers’ work, by arguing that South African teacher essentially cede their decision-making authority to ‘outcomes-based’ texts, in order to cope with the overwhelming and multiple threats of intensification of their work. The evidence in this study demonstrate that the veritable threats of intensification of teachers’ work, which typically accompany radical curriculum change in developing countries, stifles teachers’ opportunities to bridge the gap between policy and practice. / Thesis (PhD (Education))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

The Duke of Uncertainty - Aspects of Professional Skillis a dissertation whose title is a literary metaphor designedto draw attention to encounters with unforeseen problems anddilemmas at work. The first part of the dissertation presents the skill andtechnology tradition that has developed over the last twentyyears through explorative case studies. These have covered theskills of various occupational groups, such as processoperators in the paper-and-pulp and chemicals industries,managers and systems engineers working on real timeapplications in specialized knowledge intensive firms as wellas doctors and nurses. The theoretical perspective is the epistemology of skillfocusing on the phenomenon of tacit knowledge. This has itsroots in Wittgenstein's philosophy of language as developed bythe philosophers Allan Janik and Kjell S. Johannessen. The methodological framework develops indirect analogicalthinking which is a prerequisite for knowledge based onexperience, through exemplification. The empirical part of the work shows knowledge offamiliarity among members of an occupational group with lowformal training but extensive practical experience, namelyassistant nurses. A comparative analysis is undertaken inrelation to previous case studies in the field of skill andtechnology aimed at occupational groups with high formaleducational qualifications. A particular aspect to which attention is drawn is therhythm in work that unites occupational groups regardless ofeducational background. Occupational skill is treated as acapacity developed to find rhythm in action when confrontedwith situations that are hard to handle. The dissertationconsiders aspects that can be tried out in other occupationalarenas and paves the way for identifying phenomena in workinglife that hinder the development of rhythm in work. The dissertation contributes to the setting-up ofundergraduate-level training for groups of people who have notpreviously had access to higher education, and aims tointroduce new aspects into the development of analoguethinking. Key words: practical versus theoretical knowledge, skillof epistemology, tacit knowledge, comparative case study,literary metaphor, analogical thinking, indirect method,occupational training. / <p>NR 20140805</p>

Diplomacy has been changing and evolving for some time now. Diplomacy has gone public and new types of diplomacy and diplomatic tools have emerged. The number of actors has pluralised. The emergence of new technologies, like social media, also offers a new addition on how diplomacy is being conducted. However, a far less discussed diplomatic tool is diaspora. The diaspora of a country can also be used to conduct diplomacy. “Both ‘diaspora’ and ‘diplomacy’ are concepts that have undergone considerable expansion in recent years, marking a shift away from understanding diaspora as a descriptive category and diplomacy as the practice of state officials respectively” (Ho &amp; McConnell, 2017, p. 15). The study aims to gain a better understanding of how the diaspora of a country can be used as a diplomatic tool in the world of ‘New Diplomacy’. The theoretical framework builds upon the notions of New Diplomacy, Diaspora Studies and the existing pre-understanding of Diaspora Diplomacy. The study pursues a qualitative research approach by means of a Comparative Case Study conducted with the method of Most-Similar Case Comparison. The two cases analysed are those of Greece and Ireland, in which the former is identified as the case facing challenges in relation to modern-day diaspora diplomacy, while the latter is identified as a successful case. The research uses both primary and secondary data. The secondary data was collected by means of the empirical research method of Participant Observation. The researcher identified four independent variables in order to explain the dependent variable which is ‘Successful Diaspora Diplomacy’. Three independent variables, ‘Nature of their diaspora’, ‘Recent socio-economic developments’ and ‘Structure of ministry of foreign affairs &amp; the position of the diaspora unit within it’ were concluded to be too similar among the two countries in order to explain the difference in successfulness of their diaspora diplomacy. The analysis conducted indicated that the fourth independent variable ‘New Diplomacy-Culture’, however, was significantly different among the two cases and leads to an explanation of the difference in the outcome. The findings of this research indicated that a ‘New Diplomacy-Culture’ should incorporate the following characteristics and initiatives: a concrete diaspora strategy; individual initiatives all need to be linked to the strategy, but at the same time be tailor-made for the different types of diaspora members; all actions need to be monitored and evaluated; and technology needs to be utilised. Furthermore, governments should adopt a facilitating role instead of an implementing role. Knowledge sharing and access to networks constitute two of the main benefits that a country can achieve through Diaspora Diplomacy. In general, new diplomacy initiatives are not sufficient for achieving successful diaspora diplomacy if foreign ministries do not adopt a new diplomacy mentality as a whole. Countries should focus on communication, cooperation and a culture of openness, flexibility and transparency. In New Diplomacy the notion that citizens play a more prominent role than they used to in the past, is central. This idea can be expanded to include diasporas as well. Furthermore, not only should New Diplomacy include diaspora, but also the other way around; in order for Diaspora Diplomacy to be successful, it should include New Diplomacy in its practices. This brings us to the conceptualisation of a new subfield of New Diplomacy and Diaspora Diplomacy, that of New Diaspora Diplomacy. New Diaspora Diplomacy is Diaspora Diplomacy that incorporates a high degree of elements of 21st century’s New Diplomacy, in order to successfully achieve diaspora engagement on contemporary issues of strategical importance.

No description available.

Proactive government transparency has recently entered the spotlight. Examples of information made public at the initiative of the public body, without the need for filing a request, are: www.data.gov and www.recovery.gov. Transparency is an intrinsic value of democratic societies. In much of the literature an automatic link is assumed between transparency and increased accountability or trust. However, this link may not be as straightforward. Whether and how information is used to further public objectives also depends on the way information is incorporated into the complex communication chain of comprehension, action and response. Therefore, in this dissertation a communication approach was taken. The role of federal government communicators within the government transparency realm was studied in the USA and the Netherlands. More specifically, it was examined how the institutional (macro) and organizational (meso) embedding influences the way communicators value and implement proactive transparency (micro). A mixed method comparative case study consisting of process tracing, a web-based survey and semi-structured in-depth interviews showed that the institutional embedding in the USA can be characterized as a more rules-based approach while a principles-based approach prevails in the Netherlands. This study also showed that communicators working in an organization that supports proactive transparency provide more substantial information, use less spin and are more inclined to solicit feedback and participation from stakeholders. Finally, in both countries the majority of communicators valued proactive transparency highly and most communicators were actively involved in implementing proactive transparency. Communicators contributed to making information more findable, relevant and understandable for its users. At the same time some communicators indicated to sometimes leave out important details, give only part of the story or specifically highlight the positive elements in the information. Hence, communicators can play a role in both enhancing and constraining transparency. This study enhanced our understanding of proactive transparency and the value of communication. The project resulted in a conceptual framework for explaining similarities and differences in proactive transparency policy regimes from the perspective of the government communicator.

This study aimed to comparatively examine school management practices in the US and Turkey in light of the two distinct administrative paradigms:Anglo-Saxon and Napoleonic traditions. In this study, a comparative case study method was used. The study was conducted in a basic education school (grades 1-8) in Ankara, Turkey, and in an elementary school (K-5) in Madison, the capital city of the state of Wisconsn, US. The sample contained 13 teachers and 4 administrators in the Turkish case, and 10 teachers and 1 school principal in the US case. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and written document analysis. Findings revealed that at the Turkish school, school management practices were not carried out effectively mainly due to the centralized education system, poor physical conditions of the school, lack of participatory and collaborative understanding of the staff members, lack of communication among the staff and limited school budgeting. On the other hand, the management practices in the American school were implemented successfull owing mainly to the school&#039 / s embedded decentralized structure, participatory and collaborative understanding among the school staff, effective communication strategies of the principal, and various options of in-service training offered for the school staff.

abstract: The purpose of this study is to explore how internationalization is formed and operationalized in the Intensive English Programs (IEPs) at three Michigan higher education institutions. Drawing from Latour’s (2005) actor-network theory, this study examined the human and non-human actors involved in constructions of internationalization, which was defined as relational processes (programs and policies) that define and deliver international, intercultural, or global elements into the purpose, function and delivery of postsecondary education (Altbach, 2007; Knight, 2003). As an entry point into the study, I focused on the director of the programs and their mission statements, a written articulation of beliefs, as suggested by Childress (2007; 2009). To explore these potential networks, I utilized Comparative Case Study (Bartlett and Vavrus, 2016), which allowed for more unbounded cases; Actor-Network Theory (Latour, 1999; Latour, 2005) which allowed for agency among non-human actors that also coexist, transform, translate or modify meaning; and relational network analysis methods (Herz et al. 2014; Heath et al. 2009; Clarke 2005), which helped to explore and make sense of complex relational data. This was in the effort to construct an understanding of the “processual, built activities, performed by the actants out of which they are composed” (Crawford, 2004, p. 1). I mapped actors within each site who were performing their local and contingent processes of internationalization. The results indicate the formation of complex and far reaching webs of actors and activities that accomplish a form of internationalization that is highly localized. While each program under investigation responded to similar pressures, such as funding shortfalls via student enrollment declines, the responses and networks that were created from these constraints were wildly different. Indeed, the study found these programs engaged in international activities that enrolled various external actors, from campus departments to local community groups. In engaging in relational connections that moved beyond their primary instructional purpose, English language instruction and cultural acclimatization, the IEPs in this study were able to 1) contribute to the internationalization of university departmental curricula, 2) serve their communities in dynamic and impactful ways and 3) develop their own sense of internationalization in a university setting. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Learning, Literacies and Technologies 2020

Urban green spaces (UGS) can produce health-improving (salutogenic) and equigenic effects that narrow the health gap between disadvantaged and affluent neighbourhoods. Yet, the magnitude of such effects relies on the quality of a UGS. Various studies have found UGS quality to be worse in low-income neighbourhoods. Thus, the equigenic potential is often negated. This thesis examines if these findings can be replicated within the city of Stockholm. For this, two quality domains were identified. (1) The accessibility to a UGS determines the exposure to health benefits, as barriers to entry afford usage only to some individuals. (2) The salutogenic potentiality, determined by various qualities, influences the UGS’s ability to produce health-improving effects. For the assessment of these domains, the UGS Quality Audit Tool (UQAT) was developed, which uses GIS analysis and in-situ audits to assess 64 indicators. The UQAT produces an accessibility score, salutogenic potentiality score, total score, and individual inclusivity scores. In this thesis, the tool was used in a comparative case study of twelve UGS in six Stockholm neighbourhoods. The UGS were sorted into three groups depending on their neighbourhood’s socioeconomic status (SES) and health resilience. The aim was to determine whether the quality of the UGS differed significantly between groups. The results replicate findings from other countries, showing a significantly lower salutogenic potentiality for the UGS in low-SES neighbourhoods. Similarly, UGS gender-inclusivity scores were also significantly lower in low-SES neighbourhoods. While similar tendencies were identified concerning salutogenic potentiality and health resilience, these findings were not conclusive. Lastly, no significant relations to neighbourhood health or SES were found for accessibility or the other inclusivity categories. The findings suggest that investments into the quality of UGS in low-SES neighbourhoods are needed to create a more equitable and inclusive Stockholm.

For decades, the two biggest oil producers in the Middle East have been Saudi Arabia and Iran, two autocratic states that are also rivals in the region. With time, oil revenues have lowered and public discontent has risen. Through the use of a qualitative, comparative case study, this Bachelor’s Thesis aims to examine how the economic, social and political development in these countries has been affected by the oil revenues. From the theoretical viewpoints of Rentier State Theory and Assabiyya, the study concludes that oil revenues, as a considerable source of national income, has created undiversified economies in both Saudi Arabia and Iran. This has caused demands for economic, social and political change, leading to different responses from the respective states. Saudi Arabia has begun to diversify its economy to create several sources of income. The country has also initiated to loosen up its strict religious social codes in the public sphere. This is in contrast to Iran, where the government faces significant financial deficits and has started to exploit its population to compensate for the strained public economy. Additionally, no indication of political reforms towards a more democratic system of governance is seen in any of the two states.